WHEN SOCIAL SITUATIONS FEEL HARD
Many children want to connect with others but struggle to understand the social world around them.
You may notice your child:
✓ Having difficulty making or keeping friends
✓ Struggling with conversation
✓ Missing social cues
✓ Struggling with flexible thinking
✓ Becoming overwhelmed by social situations
✓ Having big emotional reactions to seemingly small problems
✓ Misunderstanding others' intentions
A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO SOCIAL SKILLS
Social Skills Start with Social Understanding
Making friends, joining conversations, solving problems, and managing emotions require more than learning abstract social rules.
Before children can successfully navigate social situations, they need to understand people. They need to recognize social cues, consider different perspectives, regulate emotions, and think flexibly about the world around them.
My approach focuses on developing these underlying social-cognitive skills so children can build meaningful relationships and navigate social situations with greater confidence and independence.
Social success isn't just about what children do. It's about what they understand.
Successful social interactions involve:
Social Understanding
Understanding what others may be thinking and feeling and how behavior impacts others.
Flexible Thinking
Adapting to unexpected situations and considering different perspectives.
Social Awareness
Recognizing social cues and understanding what is happening around us.
Emotional Regulation
Regulating emotions and responses to problems effectively and appropriately
MEET SINÉAD
Hi, I'm Sinéad.
Speech-Language Pathologist & Social Communication Specialist
Nassau County, FL
I am a highly experienced Speech-Language Pathologist with over 12 years of experience specializing in social communication and pragmatic language across the lifespan. With senior roles in hospitals, clinics and school settings across Singapore, Ireland and the US, I bring a wealth of clinical knowledge and a warm, collaborative approach to helping clients thrive.
My varied background gives me a broad perspective on how communication skills impact every stage of life — from early speech, language and play development to navigating academic and social-emotional challenges through school-age years and beyond.
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I bring together language support with a deep understanding of social-emotional development and learning. I take a holistic approach to each case blending evidence-based developmental frameworks that harness play and positive relationships to support communication, flexible thinking, emotional regulation, and social understanding. My work integrates advanced training I have completed in Social Thinking®, PEERS®, DIR®/Floortime, Hanen®, and other play-based intervention models.
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I’m passionate about helping individuals understand themselves and others, strengthen perspective taking, and build confidence in social interaction — whether that’s in the classroom, the community, or the workplace.
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